Indian boxer Priya Ghanghas assured herself of a medal in the women’s 60kg category after defeating Tajikistan’s Mijgona Samadova 5-0 by unanimous decision in the quarterfinals at the Nishio Gymnasium on Monday.
Priya overcame a 2-3 deficit after the opening round to dominate the next two rounds and secure at least a bronze medal.
Both boxers produced a competitive opening round. After a measured start, Samadova landed a few punches before Priya responded during the final 90 seconds. Samadova, a bronze medallist at the Hangzhou Games in the 57kg category, edged the round 3-2.
Priya stepped up the pressure in the second round, landing several combinations, while Samadova was also penalised a point. The Indian won the round 5-0.
Samadova came out aggressively in the final round in search of a comeback. While some of her punches connected, Priya capitalised when the Tajik boxer was on the back foot and again won the round 5-0.
All five judges voted in Priya’s favour, with three scoring the bout 29-27 and two judges awarding her a 30-26 victory across the three rounds.
Priya will face China’s Yang Chengyu in the semifinal on Wednesday for a place in the gold-medal bout. Chengyu is a two-time World Championship medallist, having won gold at the 2023 AIBA World Championships and bronze at the 2025 Worlds.
Priya’s victory secured India’s fifth confirmed boxing medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Earlier on Monday, Lovlina Borgohain assured herself of a medal with a 5-0 unanimous victory over Korea’s Seong Suyeon in the women’s 75kg quarterfinal.
Borgohain, a silver medallist at the 2023 Hangzhou Games, has now secured a second Asian Games medal.
Earlier, Ankush Panghal and Parveen Hooda had also confirmed medals in their respective categories. Ankush, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, secured India’s first boxing medal at the ongoing Games after defeating Tajikistan’s Nekruz Salimov 5-0 in the men’s 80kg quarterfinal.
Parveen also booked a medal in the women’s 65kg category after defeating Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova 5-0 in the quarterfinal.
(IANS Inputs)
